Canonical prepares Ubuntu One for October launch, sharing data on the cloud

The maker of the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system, and the company that helped push Linux over 1% market share for the first time ever with the recent release of Ubuntu 9.04, is not stopping there. For some time the company has been working on a cloud-based computer synchronization tool, called Ubuntu One. Its design allows users to sync files between home and office, and to share files with others, all automatically and all over the web (or cloud, depending on your choice of terminology), directly from the Ubuntu desktop.

Ubuntu One is scheduled for release with Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) this October. It will be a free and fee-based web service, depending on your desired level of use. This past Monday, Canonical began allowing Ubuntu community members the option to participate in a closed beta test, which is now well under way. The goal is to hash out the remaining bugs prior to launch, and to gauge user feedback as to features, usability, strengths, weaknesses, etc., and in the best traditions of the open source community fix it quickly. When the source code is released (soon), it will also be operable on other versions of Linux.

At its current stage of development, the primary design is tightly integrated into the desktop environment, and provides file syncing only. Ubuntu One users will get 2GB of free storage, with 10GB blocks available for $10 per month, though Canonical has not yet settled on this pricing structure.

Operating directly with Gnome’s Nautilus file manager software (the Linux version of Windows Explorer), the user’s home directory will be synced with the cloud. Then, whenever that users logs in to the cloud from another machine, the data is automatically synced Any new files are uploaded, and any non-existent files are downloaded. In this way, separate machines are auto-synced through the service, and without carrying storage devices back and forth.

In addition to syncing, there are some file sharing abilities. Other users can be granted access to certain files or folders. The files appear in a “Shared With Me” folder, and are then broken out by file and user who shared them.

A separate web interface is also provided, allowing users to manage files without being on a machine which is integrated through Ubuntu One’s desktop interface.

There are currently no plans by Canonical to port to Windows or Mac OS X, as these already have syncing facilities, and there are competing cloud-based syncing applications out there. Ubuntu One is designed for Ubuntu first, Linux second, and third party developers wielding the source code, could write versions for any other OSes third.

I will never understand why anybody would want to sync their data through the web (or the cloud, as it’s now being called). Someone else somewhere has a copy of your data. And no matter how secure they might claim the system to be, and no matter how secure your own personal system might be, you are now relying upon other people to safeguard your data.

How often do we hear about credit card companies being hacked? And often times when we hear about it, we are not notified for months, sometimes years after the deed was done.

It is dangerous and, in my opinion, irresponsible to use services of this kind for anything other than casual files that you don’t mind sharing. Business users, those who have personal work they are doing (proprietary or research stuff), these are not the things to be storing on a remote computer … somewhere … out there … in the cloud.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this trend can be stopped. Sun tried it in the late 80s and early 90s. The technology wasn’t present yet to do it, but it is approaching that level today (when we have massive storage, and everybody has 50Mbps or greater broadband with real throughput, and not “sometimes 50Mbps”).

Cloud-based storage appears unstoppable, and will likely be the only form of storage many of our future computers have. After all, it’s safer. We can drop our machine, our personal hard drives can go bad, but on the cloud the data will be insured to have integrity with automatic backups, time keepers (for historical version browsing) and many other candy-like qualities that will entice.

But all the while, our data will be sitting on some company’s machine where they can, for any reason whatsoever, and at anytime they like, and as often as they like, parse through your data looking for anything they want for any purpose… the most likely of which will be money-making uses, such as “this person does a lot of C++ programming, maybe advertise the latest C++ programming books to them”. Or “this person is an amateur photographer with thousands of images, advertise the latest camera models, or magazines related to their hobby”.

It’s dangerous in my eyes. And I don’t think most people even realize or consider that. I mean, ask yourself this today: Would you even trust your best friend to be the keeper of all of your files? Why would you trust a corporation whose primary goal is profit?

Speak Your Mind

Walt

How is this LESS secure?
How many business users can be trusted to send an email without breaking their computer or giving away information that they shouldn’t? How many of them have lost a portable drive (or entire laptop) that had important data on it?
I have bigger things to worry about than the dangers of cloud storage.

awechris

well… if you don’t trust them (canonical), you simply don’t use this functionabilitty :) Nobody forces you to share your files :) However, you can also encode your files prior ‘backing them’ up online. isn’t it ? I personally agree with you, but some people just share ‘junks’ like funny power point presentation files etc so they don’t have to worry about privacy. If they can develop it, let them do it – for sure it will be useful to some :) Cheers !

David

This is great for me i spend all my time flicking between computers and I always seem to use my USB. Also I couldn’t care less if someone else steals my coursework as long as I don’t loose it